This was my 2nd time in the Philippines and my 1st in Manila. It was time to watch the Philippine Basketball Association as this was one of my primary objectives, yes I call it an objective was to see the popularity of the game James Naismith invented of how it was taking off here. I watched a game between teams nicknamed “The Beermen” and “Bossing”. Again, I am not sure who voted on these as team nicknames but it is what they call them.
At the time, they were the top 2 teams in the league by record. As I entered the stadium, it was a frantic but excited fan base to enter the coliseum of Smart Araneta. The game was very entertaining, both guard CJ Perez and center June Mar Fajardo (a six-time MVP of the PBA) stood out for “The Beerman” and were able to lead the team to avictory in overtime on the day.
Basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines and I can see why after going to a professional basketball game. The PBA (Filipino Basketball Association) plays doubleheaders 5 days a week across about 6 different venues.
